High School Volleyball: Golden Eagles rally for win over Brandon Valley

October 19, 2007|By American News Sports Staff

BRANDON - Aberdeen Central regrouped after a slow start and rallied for a five-game victory over Brandon Valley in an Eastern South Dakota conference contest on Thursday. The hosts won the first two games before the Golden Eagles came to life and won the next two to force a fifth game, in which they took a narrow 16-14 decision. Aberdeen coach Greg Murley credited the Lynx with coming out ready to play. “They wanted to win more than we did early in the match, and came out with a lot of energy and emotion,” said Murley. “It took us a little while to react to that.” The Eagles turned thing around in game three, running to a 25-14 win, swinging the momentum in their favor. Murley said Central may have overlooked the Lynx a little and been thinking too far ahead. “They're a good team and we didn't give them the credit that we should,” he said. “Their coach got them ready to play. Maybe we're looking too far down the line. We need to focus on one match at a time.” The Eagles tallied 49 kills in the match, led by Alison Kusler with 14 and Amanda Lipp with a dozen. Lipp also led her team at the service line, making 30 of 32 attempts with four aces. Abby Taffe contributed 18 set assists and Abby Kelsey finished with 16. Murley said that at times, one player of the six on the floor seemed to be “taking a break” and that can't happen if the Eagles are to be successful. “No one played bad, but people just took breaks. There were five playing on the court and a different person taking a break at any one time,” he said. “It's too late in the season to do that. We need to be focused and ready to go. We can play a lot better than we did tonight and we're going to have to.” The Golden Eagles (13-4, 8-3 ESD) return to action Saturday at Mitchell for another conference match. Murley hopes the Eagles get off to a better start against the Kernels than they did Thursday at Brandon Valley. “We have to be prepared to play Mitchell, because it will be the same thing if we're not,” he said. Serving: 75-87 10 aces (Amanda Lipp 30-32 4 aces, Abby Taffe 15-17 2 aces, Alison Kusler 12-13 2 aces). Attacking: 178-195 49 kills (Kusler 42-43 14 kills, Lipp 32-39 12 kills, Mariah Stolle 29-33 7 kills, Ella Campbell 26-28 6 kills). Setting: 137-139 39 assists (Taffe 62-62 18 assists, Abby Kelsey 53-53 16 assists). Digs: 148 (Casey Hodgin 40, Kusler 26, Lipp 25, Taffe 22). Blocks: 2 solo, 3 assists (Stolle 1 solo, 2 assists; Ashley LaFave 1 solo; Lipp 1 assist).